The NHL Draft is now behind us and the Red Wings selected 8 players. They took 6 forwards and 2 defensemen. After the jump we’ll take a look at each pick and mention some of the most interesting transactions of the day.

The aforementioned jump:

The Wings traded their 18th overall pick to the Sharks for the 20th and 58th overall picks and used that 20th pick to get Anthony Mantha. He’s a steal at that spot. He was the only 50 goal scorer available in the draft. He has been described as a James Neil type of player who mostly plays on the perimeter. He’ll need to man up in a few years and head to the net as we already have a Johan Franzen under contract for some time now. He shoots left, by the way.

With their second pick, the Wings took Zach Nastasiuk, a right shooting forward currently playing for Owen Sound. A good shot, but needs to work on his skating.

The Red Wings used the pick they got from the Sharks (which the Sharks got from Pittsburgh) to draft Tyler Bertuzzi. Yes, that’s Todd Bertuzzi’s nephew. At 6’ Tyler is the smallest player taken by the Wings this year, but he’s probably the meanest. He wasn’t projected to be taken this high in the draft, so some people are really miffed at Holland for taking him. I’m fine with it because the Wings wanted Mantha and got him, but also got a bonus pick. I don’t know if their thought process went beyond “Hey, why not?” when selecting Little Bert, but I think he’s the type of player they’ll need in the East. If you’re mad about the Bertuzzi pick, please use the comment section to tell us who you wanted in his place.

The Wings selected Mattias Janmark-Nylen with the 79th overall pick, making him the second player taken whose name I can hardly spell. Would it kill Holland to draft a Bill Smith or Tim Jones at some point? Please? Your mind will be blown when you learn that Janmark-Nylen is Swedish. And, and, AND he shoots left. Didn’t see that coming did you? He’s a center who played for AIK and recorded 31 points in 55 games. He’s 21 now, so he’s eligible to play for the Griffins already.

The Red Wings drafted David Pope in the 4th round. Another left shooting forward, he was 4th in scoring (42 GP 17G 22A 39P) on the West Kelowna Warriors of the BCHL, but missed a good chunk of the season because of an injury. He’s currently enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and will play for them in the fall. His decision to play at Nebraska instead of Notre Dame cost the Irish millions of dollars in lost ironic jersey sales.

Mitchell Wheaton is the first defenseman taken by the Red Wings. At 6’4” and 230lbs, he’s the biggest player the Wings took, but not the tallest. He’s a physical defensive defenseman that plays well in his own zone. “Aren’t you repeating yourself there, Twig?” Ever since Brett Lebda: Offensive defenseman who doesn’t score, I’ve felt the need to clarify. Oh, and would you believe me if I told you he shoots left?

The Wings picked Marc McNulty in the 6th round. Yet another left-shooting defenseman, this guy is 6’6” tall, but only weighs 185lbs. I used to be built like that, hence the nickname Twig. Now? Well, this isn’t about me, so let’s talk about McNulty. More offensive upside than Wheaton, but struggles with consistency. Also needs to put on a few pounds.

Finally, this year’s late round Swedish gem is forward Hampus Melen. Not to put any pressure on him or anything, but considering he was taken 199th overall by the Red Wings means he should probably score about 600 goals in his career. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Hampus! And he shoots left! *Holland swoons*

Yes, as far as I can tell, that's really him. Sorry kid, hockey careers come and go, but the internet is forever.

In other NHL news, the Blackhawks traded Dave Bolland to Toronto, so they could have the honor of overpaying Bryan Bickell to the tune of 4 years at $4million per. Hey, someone has help the Panthers reach the cap floor in 2015. (worth noting: ‘Bolland’ was the 666th word typed in this post according to Microsoft Word. I knew it…)

They also traded Frolik to the Jets. Their strategy seems to be this: Suck, suck, suck, win, sell. But, Dynasty, you guys. Dynasty.

The biggest news was Vancouver trading Schneider to New Jersey instead of trading Luongo to anyone. That’s a good deal for both teams, in this humble blogger’s opinion, but the fact that Schneider found out the moment we all found out (by hearing his name on the TV) shows that Vancouver’s front office sucks.

The Red Wings reportedly made an offer to the Canucks for defenseman Alexander Edler, but it was turned down. Mike Gillis says that he doesn’t have cap troubles now that Schneider is gone. Haha, my ass. They now have $ 4,047,222 to sign 7 players. Yup, rolling in cash. Naturally Edler’s no trade clause kicked in at midnight, so he’ll have to wave that before he can be moved.

By the way, the Wings also resigned Kindl last week. 4 year deal worth $9.6 million. That’s a cap hit of $2.4 per year. Considering he’s a young defenseman who’s capable of playing on the PP, that’s a good deal.

What do you think of the Red Wings’ new prospects? Excited for the future? Or would you have hit the reset button on the ol’ game console and tried again?